High school athletes need more post-concussion protection

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTONiki Popyer, from Marlboro, is seen on Capitol Hill in Washington last December before a news conference on Concussion Treatment and Care Tools Act (ConTACT).

Legislators and former pro athletes gathered yesterday at the New Meadowlands Stadium to support a scholastic concussion safety bill Gov. Chris Christie signed into law.

Although it’s mostly overlap, the law will apply to high schools that aren’t members of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association and governed by its concussion policy. That’s good. But the law — like the NJSIAA’s plan — doesn’t go far enough to protect kids.

The new law requires the Department of Education to develop a head injury safety course, which must be completed by each school’s physician, athletic trainer and a coach — any coach. The assistant fencing coach, for example, could be a school’s concussion representative. Does that make sense?

Under the new law, any athlete who suffers a concussion must be removed from the game or practice. But each school will design its follow-up plan. That’s a mistake. Decisions should be protected from the influence of coaches, who might want to get a star player back on the field as soon as possible, or a parent who sees his kid’s college scholarship chances slipping away while standing on the sideline.

Ryne Dougherty, a football player at Montclair High School, died of a brain injury his family says was caused by concussions in successive weeks. Niki Popyer, a Marlboro basketball player, suffered 11 concussions. Those examples argue against allowing schools to determine when a player can return.

More troubling evidence: The ImPACT computerized test is considered the best available for evaluating concussed athletes. At $500 per year, it’s a bargain. But out of the state’s 430 high schools, only 134 were using it at the beginning of this school year.
The NJSIAA doesn’t require ImPACT testing; neither does the new law. It should, but Assemblyman Patrick Diegnan (D-18th Dist.), one of the sponsors, said Trenton didn’t want to hit schools with “another mandate.”

Legislators didn’t establish a deadline, either, so no one knows when the Department of Education and the schools will be ready to implement. In the meantime, more young athletes will suffer head traumas.